(WCSN Photo-Nicolas Badders)
For the ninth time in Arizona State’s history, the Sun Devils have taken home the Southwestern Intercollegiate. This time doing so in record fashion, following the momentum from the Copper Cup.
ASU wrapped up the tournament with a 30-under 834, topping the tournament record by four strokes which was set by USC in 2016. The 30 under result was good enough to finish 13 strokes clear of host school, Pepperdine, the number two ranked team in the country according to Golfweek.
While Wednesday’s results were special to these Sun Devils, they were even more special to Junior David Puig, who brought home the tournament’s individual title. Puig, now a two time winner at the Southwestern intercollegiate, finished 8-under, two strokes clear of Wake Forest Sophomore Michael Brennan.
Puig now becomes the first player in the history of the Southwestern Intercollegiate to win the tournament in back to back seasons and the fourth to ever win it twice. It was Puig’s third ever individual victory in his career.
Puig is the sixth Sun Devil to win the individual competition, with Paul Casey being the last one not named Puig to win it, which came in 1998.
When you break records, you are guaranteed to fill up the stat sheet, and that’s exactly what Arizona State did.
The Sun Devils lead the tournament with 69 total birdies, with the winner Puig leading the way with 17 of those.
Arizona State led the way on par threes with the highest scoring average on such holes. They were also second on par fours and par fives in the respective category. On the par threes, freshman Preston Summerhays led all players in the tournament averaging 2.83 strokes on the short holes. Summerhays finished the competition tied for sixth at four under.
Senior Cameron Sisk had himself quite the tournament as well, somewhat going under the radar following Puig’s masterclass. Sisk ended his week tied for second at six under, two strokes under Puig. Sisk’s best day of the week came on day two, where he posted a 67, tied for the lowest round on the second day.
Another impressive feather in the Sun Devils cap came on the final day, with Puig and graduate student Mason Andersen who were two of the only four players to shoot under 70 on the final day, with Puig shooting a 65 and Andersen posting a 69. Puig’s 65 in the last round came 10 strokes under the average on the final day.
Arizona State now has two team wins on the season, bringing them level with the top ranked Oklahoma Sooners who also have two.
ASU will now get a week to rest, before they head to beautiful Kona, Hawaii for the Amer Ari Invitational. The Sun Devils trip to the Aloha State will provide another test for their third ranked squad, which will get underway on Thursday February 3rd.
